2001

Miami
Bills 

Attendance:  

Due to the tragic incidents in the United States, the NFL has postponed the games this week. Here is a statement by commissioner Paul Tagliabue:

We in the National Football League have decided that our priorities for this weekend are to pause, grieve, and reflect. It is a time to tend to families and neighbors and all those wounded by these horrific acts of terrorism.

We understand those individuals in sports who want to play this weekend. We also can empathize with those who want to take the weekend off and resume their personal lives and professional careers next week. We strongly believe that the latter course of action is the right decision for the NFL.

On Sunday, Sept. 23, the NFL, its players and coaches will return stronger than ever and resume our playing schedule.

Bills General Manager Tom Donahoe reading statements by Bills owner Ralph Wilson:

"I feel it is the absolute right decision by the NFL to postpone games this weekend. I had conveyed my thoughts to the league in regards to not playing this weekend well in advance of this announcement, because I feel that to play the games would have shown a great insensitivity to this national tragedy that has shocked our nation and the world. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the victims and their loved ones, as well as the heroic rescue workers who continue their tireless efforts to search for survivors."

"This has been a very difficult week for an awful lot of people in this county, not just here in Buffalo and in this organization, and along with Mr. Wilson, I applaud the decision by the commissioner and the league. This was the right decision to make. Obviously, at some point, we all have to return to our lives and the things that we do, but nobody seems to be sure what that point actually is. It would have been difficult to play these games, and very difficult to focus on these games when we all know what is going on in this country. Unfortunatley, all our lives will be affected by what's taken place, particularly the lives of our children, who will know a world much different from the world we've experienced growing up.

"The Buffalo Bills as an organization are united in their support of the commissioner and the NFL, and as an organization we are willing to do anything that we can, financial, volunteer, whatever, to do our part to assist the families and victims of this senseless tragedy."

Copyright ©2001 WGBB